Come along to Flawborough Footpaths meeting place SK78384323 (see note below) and join a group of like-minded people who are enthusiastic about the conservation of the Grizzled Skipper butterfly - a nationally important species which occurs at a small number of sites in south Nottinghamshire.

Many of the sites where the Grizzled Skipper occurs require regular management to keep them in a suitable condition for the butterfly, so we will be undertaking a series of practical workdays at some key sites, which will involve:

Scrub clearance work to maintain open habitats required by the Grizzled Skipper and to help create corridors to link existing open habitats

Creation of bare earth patches to increase the availability of suitable egg-laying habitat

What to bring:

Lunch

Warm clothing and stout footwear

Work gloves (gloves will be provided if you don’t have any)

Tools (if you have any – bow saws/loppers/spades. Tools will be provided, along with instruction on their use)

Meeting Place:

We will be meeting on a privately owned farm in Flawbrough village. The landowner has kindly allowed us access to his farmyard to park up, so I would appreciate it if you could let Chris Jackson know if you are intending on coming along so I can gauge how many people we will be expecting.

The meeting location is shown on the attached map and has a grid reference of SK78384323. Please drive slowly on the farm track that leads to the meeting point. The farm track is located between a large white house and Flawborough Equine.

The task for the day will be to clear back some encroaching scrub from the site in order to develop some suitable areas for grizzled skippers to feed and to lay their eggs. We will be burning some of the scrub that we cut so if you would like to bring a baked potato with you for lunch this will be a possibility.

Please wear suitable clothing and bring a packed lunch along with you. If you have any questions please feel free to contact Chris Jackson.

For more information please contact Chris Jackson at the Nottinghamshire Biodiversity Action Group on 0115 969 6519 or email chris.jackson@nottscc.gov.uk.